SUPPLIER NEWS… (July 01, 2000)

Compounder WedTech Corp. (Toronto) has changed its name to Ingenia Polymers Corp.

DuPont Canada is now the exclusive marketing and sales arm for some Ferro Corp. plastic compounds in Canada. Ferro PP and TPE product lines to be marketed by DuPont in Canada include Ferrex, Gapex, Rxloy and Alcryn. “This strategic decision to expand our plastics line through the Ferro alliance allows us to offer our customers more of a `total solution’ approach and will lead to the development of new, innovative, high-end applications,” says Chul Lee, DuPont’s Canada’s business manager for Ferro products.

M.A. Hanna Co. (Cleveland, OH) is divesting its rod, sheet, tube distribution business and will join forces with Geon Co. (Avon Lake, OH). The two companies intend to consolidate their global resin compounding operations into a new organization, and take a leadership role in consolidating the specialty chemical industry. The merger is subject to approval by shareholders of both companies and regulatory approvals.

Also announced recently is an agreement with GE Plastics (Pittsfield, MA) to acquire most of the assets and business of a M.A. Hanna subsidiary, Cadillac Plastic (Troy, MI). Cadillac is a distributor of plastic sheet, rod, tube, film and engineered plastic shapes. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but the acquisition is subject to regulatory approval. The business will be managed separately from GE’s existing resins and sheet extrusion business.

Bohler-Uddeholm North America has sold Uddeholm Heat Treatment, located in Newmarket, Ont., to Bodycote International plc. The commercial heat treatment plant mainly serves tier one and two automotive suppliers. Bohler-Uddeholm will continue to operate its new vacuum heat treatment facility in Mississauga, Ont. to complement tool steel sales activities in North America.

Injection molding machine manufacturers are jumping on the MuCell bandwagon. Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd., (Bolton, Ont.), Battenfeld of America (Providence, RI) and Japan Steel Works Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan) have each entered into licensing agreements with Trexel Inc. to sell MuCell-capable injection molding equipment, or retrofit the MuCell process to existing equipment. MuCell Microcellular Process Technology uses a supercritical fluid of atmospheric gases to produce microscopic cells in the plastic melt. It is suitable for a wide range of injection molded, extruded and blow molded products.

An extensive calendar of industry events can be found at www.canplastics.com